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Inside Scientists’ Life-Saving Prediction of the Iceland Eruption
The Reykjanes Peninsula has entered a new volcanic era. Innovative efforts to map and monitor the subterranean magma are saving lives.
Quanta Relaunches Hyperjumps Math Game
Explore a universe of numbers and arithmetic in our new and improved interactive math game, Hyperjumps!
Radio Maps May Reveal the Universe’s Biggest Magnetic Fields
A controversial technique has produced detailed maps of the magnetic fields in colossal galaxy clusters. If confirmed, the approach could be used to reveal where cosmic magnetic fields come from.
The Quest to Decode the Mandelbrot Set, Math’s Famed Fractal
For decades, a small group of mathematicians has patiently unraveled the mystery of what was once math’s most popular picture. Their story shows how technology transforms even the most abstract mathematical landscapes.
New Clues for What Will Happen When the Sun Eats the Earth
Recent observations of an aging, alien planetary system are helping to answer the question: What will happen to our planet when the sun dies?
New Cell Atlases Reveal Untold Variety in the Brain and Beyond
Recent efforts to map every cell in the human body have researchers floored by unfathomable diversity, with many thousands of subtly different types of cells in the human brain alone.
Extra-Long Blasts Challenge Our Theories of Cosmic Cataclysms
Astronomers thought they had solved the mystery of gamma-ray bursts. A few recent events suggest otherwise.
Meet Strange Metals: Where Electricity May Flow Without Electrons
For 50 years, physicists have understood current as a flow of charged particles. But a new experiment has found that in at least one strange material, this understanding falls apart.